Central Florida need some advice

[livinmydream]

first, thanks in advance for reading my post! I am recently divorced and a hairstylist. Definitely looking forward to a new career at 37. I have an AA degree earned in 1999 :-0 lol. So a fair amount of prerequisites are encompassed in that. And yes they are counting them. But I still have a few left. AP 1, AP2, Micro, dev psych, med term and a nutrition class. So bad news is my overall gpa is crappy. Like 2.7, this was achieved over 15 years ago. My gpa so far with pre reqs is 3.0. And I'm certain I can get it higher. I want to be an RN as my end goal. Seeing a lot about the difficulty getting accepted into programs is really scaring me. I've recently been considering an LPN program then bridge to RN. So here are my questions. Any added advice is appreciated

1) is it a little easier to get into an LPN program? If your an LPN is it easier to get into a bridge program?

2) is it useless to be an LPN I've overheard from others that nobody hires them any more. So am I wasting my time knowing ill bridge to RN?

3) what are places that hire more LPNs?

Thank you in advance. I'm really excited to do this.

[mo16]

I've seen many clinic type jobs for LPNs on the internet; however, it probably depends on the location as well. I would look on one of the job sites to see what LPN jobs are available in your area. Keep in mind that when you finish your schooling the job market might have changed by then. Can you apply for both and see where you get in?

[livinmydream]

Thank you for the tips.

[Preeps]

I don't know if an LPN would help you but if you did well and had good grades in the program it could. Why don't you ask the school you are interested in applying to what your chances are with your current GPA. Good luck.

[ReigN719]

Not that there's anything wrong with LPN, but if RN is your end goal then you should definitely shoot for that. I'm not sure if the LPN is any easier to get into, but would probably use the bridge option as Plan B, and try to go the ADN route first. As far as places that hire LPNs, I rarely see them in the clinical setting, but do see them in the assisted living facilities. and other specialized settings.

I would try to "A"ce all of your remaining pre-reqs and apply to the schools in Central Florida that you're interested in. I was in your same shoes 2 years ago, had an AA finished way back when, decided on a career change, and had to re-take pre-reqs before applying to nursing school. I went thru the motions, took AP1 & 2 and Nutrition and a few other classes over again which helped bump my GPA up, and then applied to different schools. Got accepted into Valencia, and am currently in Nursing IV at Valencia College and "crossing fingers" will be done this December. So if I can do it, you definitely can too!